Egyptian Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maeet, said on Thursday that his ministry would keep working hard to prevent tax evasion and ensure compliance with tax registration in the light of established legal rules.
The Ministry of Finance, he said, would keep working to prevent evasion and achieving tax justice among taxpayers.
“We will do this in a manner that maximises public revenues, reduces the budget deficit, brings debts and inflation down and raises the living standards of citizens,” the minister said.
He added that the same measure would be taken to improve the services offered ordinary people, raise the income of citizens, stabilise commodity prices in the local market, and increase spending on human development, health and education.
Minister Maeet noted that his ministry is honing the skills of its staff to be more capable of fighting evasion.
Training given to tax officials in this regard, the minister said, follows the latest international standards.
The minister added that this training aims to make tax officials able to control the tax society more accurately, establish tax justice and integrate the informal economy into the formal one.
Minister Maeet revealed that campaigns by tax officials to prevent evasion between July 2018 and November 2021 included 14,000 different businesses.
He noted that 55% of these businesses turned out to have failed to register with the Tax Authority.
The same businesses, the minister said, had to pay their tax dues instantly, which brought to the state treasury over LE530 million (roughly $34 million) in revenues.
Minister Maeet said the government commits consumers to pay a value-added tax on goods and services.
“Businesses cannot then be allowed to take the tax for themselves,” the minister said.
He noted that his ministry would take all legal measures against tax evaders in the coming period.
